There must be an infinite number of possible thoughts on any one piece of art, but we will only cover seven, a weeks worth. For 52 weeks, through 2009, you will see a work of art from the Portland Art Museum* and a riff each day inspired by it – prose, poetry, photos, video, thoughts or ponderings.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Raymond Saunders ~ Dr. Faustus

"Dr. Faustus", you ask? How can Raymond Saunders be associated with Dr. Faustus? Read the chalk like writing on the image above and you'll see that David Mamet wrote a play about Dr. Faustus. Mamet asked his long-time friend Raymond Saunders to do the broadsides for the play that was originally performed at the Magic Theatre in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2005. Saunders created a painting in which he depicted this visual musing on heaven and hell. Trillium Press then created twelve pigmented prints each of which had added handwork and collage. The augmentation was typical of Saunders' art practice. Each print is unique, much like individual performances of a play. Below you can see nine of those twelve images. For you Mamet buffs out there, Raymond Saunders also created the broadside for the original production of Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway back in 1984.